Drugs

Risking bringing marijuana into Virginia or handguns out of the commonwealth brings serious prosecution exposure. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that such behavior is common in the Northern Virginia / Capital Beltway region, where one can find himself or herself in a different...

Pot criminalization unnecessarily taxes limited government budgets and civil liberties. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer and civil libertarian, I thank Virginia attorney general Mark Herring for recently stating his support for marijuana decriminalization as follows: "Virginia should decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, address...

Suspects and everyone else have the right to remain silent with police. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have seen too many criminal defendants create their own nooses by not keeping their mouths shut with police. Even in states requiring a person to identify himself...

Testing for allegedly illegal drugs/ controlled dangerous substances -- other than marijuana plant material (versus hashish oil) -- commonly takes at least four months in my clients' drug cases, and often longer. An exception is for marijuana plant material testing, where I have seen recent...

Dismissing or not prosecuting misdemeanor marijuana possession cases is now the policy of the chief prosecutors in Portsmouth (except for likely still prosecuting juveniles for possessing marijuana) and Norfolk Virginia. As a Fairfax drug lawyer and civil libertarian, I applaud this move and encourage a...

Conspiracy charges enable prosecutors to seek convictions for an agreement to commit a crime (together with a step towards effectuating the crime) even when the actual agreed crime is not completed. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that plenty of drug buyers are acting...

Rescheduling marijuana away from being a Schedule I or even Schedule II drug, federally, is essential. A federal Schedule I controlled substance is a dangerous drug that has no recognized medicinal benefits; that is how marijuana currently is scheduled in federal law. A Schedule II...

Leniency offers by cops abound in their efforts to convince criminal defendants to waive their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that criminal defendants and criminal suspects should not communicate with police about their case without the presence...

Search warrants do not automatically preclude successful Fourth Amendment challenges. Today, Ian Christian Carlson happily saw that truism applied to his benefit. Carlson v. Virginia. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that police generally are barred from investigating for possible criminal activity by going...

Private prisons and private jails abound in the United States, and are popular with many investors. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, my concerns about private prisons include the risk that the prisons will put investors' profit interests above treating inmates right, and about possible limited...